Saturday, September 21, 2013

Theme: “If we will be quiet and ready enough, we shall find
compensation in every disappointment.”

-- Henry David Thoreau

Joel Ward is in a select society of Washington
Capitals.He is one of three players in
franchise history to end a playoff series in overtime with a goal.He took his place alongside Dale Hunter
(1988) and Joe Juneau (1998) when he scored in overtime in Game 7 of the
Eastern Conference quarterfinal series against the defending Stanley Cup
champion Boston Bruins in 2012.

Then, misfortune.It
was his double-minor penalty taken for high-sticking with 22 seconds left in
Game 5 of the conference semis that gave the New York Rangers a four-minute
power play.The Rangers scored on both
ends – the first with 6.6 seconds left in regulation to tie, then at 1:35 into
the first overtime to give the Rangers the win and deny the Caps the chance to
go up 3-2 in games.The Caps lost the
series in seven games.

How did Ward respond to the high and the low when he
returned for the 2013 season?He played
in each of the Caps’ first 39 games, going 8-12-20, plus-7 in the process.He ended that run with a flourish, recording
a goal (the game-winner) and an assist in earning the first star in a 4-2 win
over Tampa Bay on April 7th.

However, that game would be his last in the regular
season.With 8:48 gone in the third
period, and the Caps clinging to a 3-2 lead, Ward blocked a shot by Lightning
defenseman Sami Salo.Ward suffered a
contusion to his left knee.He missed the last nine games of the regular season, but he would
return from that injury in time for Game 1 against the Rangers in the Eastern
Conference quarterfinals and would tie for the team lead in scoring against New
York in the seven-game series (although four points to lead the team should not
be seen as all that impressive; that a grinder getting 13 minutes a game would,
perhaps somewhat more).

Fearless’ Take…

Ward settled into a third/fourth line role with the club
last year.It was a role perhaps not
envisioned when he signed a four-year/$12 million contract in 2011, but he was at
least as productive as one would expect from someone playing the role he was
asked to play.His eight goals in 39
games last year was his second best goals-per game (0.21) in his six-year
career, just behind his 17 goals in 79 games (0.22/game) with Nashville in
2008-2009.His 20 points in 39 games
(0.51 points/game) was his career best, this despite his being seventh among
forwards in total ice time per game and ninth at five-on-five.

Ward had solid, if unspectacular possession numbers.He was fifth among Capital forwards in Corsi
and relative Corsi at 5-on-5 (20 games minimum; source: behindthenet.ca),
numbers which look better in light of his 44.8 percent offensive zone starts at
5-on-5.His PDO value (sum of team shooting
percentage and save percentage, on ice, at 5-on-5) was third among forwards,
this after finishing first among forwards in 2011-2012 (minimum: 40 games).

Cheerless’ Take…

OK, about that production.Buffalo, Carolina, Tampa Bay, and Florida were the bottom four finishers
in the Eastern Conference.Ward played
14 games against those four teams and went 6-9-15, plus-8.In 25 games against everyone else he was
2-3-5, minus-1.Against teams he will be
playing against in the Metropolitan Division in 2013-2014 he was 2-3-5, minus-6
in 19 games (the Caps did not play against Columbus).

Then there was the fast start thing.In 2013 he started 5-6-11, plus-7 in his
first 14 games (a 29-35-64, plus-41 82-game pace), but then went 3-6-9, even,
in his last 25 games (a 10-20-30, even pace over 82 games).It was a lot like his 2011-2012 season where
he went 4-3-7, plus-6 in his first 12 games (a 27-21-48, plus-41 pace) and 2-9-11,
plus-6 in his last 61 games (a 3-12-15, plus-8 pace).

The Big Question… Where will Joel play?

This is a question that might have less to do with what Ward
does and more what Adam Oates does.More
to the point, what Oates does with Eric Fehr.So far this preseason Fehr has been getting time at center, moving from
what one might have thought to be his spot on the right side of the third
line.If Oates sees this as a permanent
fixture in the Caps’ lineup, it will open up the right wing spot on the third
line for Ward.Unless…

And this is where Ward might have some (perhaps limited,
though) impact on where he sets up shop.Moving Fehr to center opens up the right wing spot on the third line for
Tom Wilson, too, who Oates seems to want on the roster to start the season.
Wilson and Ward would be fighting it out to see who plays where between the
third and fourth lines, at least to start the season.

In the end…

Joel Ward had one of his best seasons in terms of offensive
productivity last season despite the second lowest average ice time per game in
his five full seasons in the NHL.It
would be hard for him to replicate those numbers, unless you think a 15.4
percent shooting percentage is sustainable.Keep in mind that his career shooting percentage going into last season
was 8.9 percent (it was 10.3 percent over his last 32 games last season).

Ward did, however, display versatility.Among Capitals forwards with the team all
season in 2013 he was one of only three forwards who averaged more than one
minute of both power play and shorthanded ice time.This was a large departure from his 2011-2012
experience when he averaged only 45 seconds of combined special teams ice time
per game.

It is safe to say Ward is going to play on the right side…
somewhere.Where that is, is not
entirely in his control.Roster
machinations – where Adam Oates decides to play Eric Fehr, whether George
McPhee chooses to keep Tom Wilson on the roster (which would require another
roster move to free salary cap space) – will be the moving parts that will go a
long way to determine where Ward will play.

However, none of this seems likely to alter what Ward
presents on the ice.He will be an
occasional contributor on offense (although it would be nice if it was more “occasional”
as the season wears on than it has in his first two years in Washington).He will work in all three zones digging out
pucks.He will be a solid, if
unspectacular defensive player (he was 48th among 395 NHL forwards in
plus-minus per 60 minutes and 125th among that same group in goals
scored against per 60 minutes at 5-on-5). With all the ups and downs, with all
the other stuff swirling around the forward lines, Ward has been steady as a
rock.It is an underappreciated quality.

And now Fearless is down to the last ten elements to Opening
Night.It won’t be long now…

Neon

Neon is a noble gas that emits a bright red signature in the
electromagnetic spectrum.Born in fusion
processes in stars, it is named for the Greek word, “neos,” meaning “new.”As often as the word appears in conversation
and print, it is actually a quite rare element, made even more so by the fact
that is forms no stable chemical compounds. That makes it extremely volatile,
allowing it to escape the earth in the heat of the young solar system.

It was discovered at the end of the 19th century
by Sir William Ramsey.Having little
else to do, apparently, Ramsey took a sample of air (it being in great supply)
and chilled it.I mean really chilled
it.So much that it became a liquid (for
the record, that means taking it to a temperature of minus-319 degrees
Fahrenheit).Then he warmed it back up,
slowly.This allowed him to collect the
gases comprising air as they boiled off, since each of them individually had
different boiling points.Nitrogen
boiled off…oxygen…even argon.Then,
krypton (this guy would have been great building stills in the Appalachians).He was left with a gas that gave off a
brilliant red light when current was passed through it.He named it “neon.”

Of all the noble gases, neon gives off the most intense
light and is expressed as a red-orange color to the human eye.These qualities make it a preferred element
in lighting, displays, and it was important in the development of plasma television
screen applications.

Neon is not restricted to lighting or sign applications,
although they are their most commonly known ones.It is used in vacuum tubes, voltage
indicators, and even lasers.In its
liquefied form it is used as a refrigerant.

We have an element born in stellar furnaces, but one that is
apart from other elements on earth.It
shines brightest among them with an intense reddish glow.And even though it is most commonly known as an
element in lighting and in sign-making, it has a number of other
applications.It sounds like someone who
is among the many elements of Caps Nation, but works apart from them (perhaps
in his own booth), one whose intensity makes brighter and more memorable Caps
game nights.One who while most well-known
here for his special talents on game night, has a lot of other credits to his name.

Fearless got a bit behind his time and is late getting to
number 11 in his waltz through the elements of the periodic table, but here he
is anyway…

Sodium

Young chemistry students always seem to scratch their heads
about this element.How in heaven’s name
does “Sodium” end up with the chemical symbol, “Na?”It goes back to the discovery of the
element.Sir Humphry Davy was fooling
around with electricity and caustic soda (what we know today to be sodium
hydroxide).He ended up with elemental
sodium, and since it was derived from caustic soda, he thought, “well…soda…sodium.”Not in those words (19th century
England being a time of much more flowery prose), but that’s the gist of it.

Ah, but not so fast.We had a new element, but we did not have a chemical symbol for it.Six years after Davy’s discovery, Swedish
chemist Jöns Jakob Berzelius (you knew a Swede would show up sooner or later)
got in the game.Let’s follow along with
this United Nations of naming process.Berzelius (the Swede) took Davy’s discovery (he being the Englishman)
and published a new system of atomic symbols in the “Annals of Philosophy,” a
publication by Thomas Thomson (a Scottish chemist).Among the symbols, Berzelius chose “Na” for
sodium from the Latin word, “natrium,” which meant, well…”sodium.”

It was a lot of effort for what is a soft, silver-white,
highly reactive metal that does not occur as a free metal in nature (it’s too
reactive).It does occur in a variety of
compounds.The aforementioned “caustic
soda” – or “lye,” used in everything from soap-making to food preparation (the
Scandanavian delicacy “lutefisk,” for example).Sodium carbonate is used in glass manufacture.Sodium peroxide is used to bleach wood pulp
in paper manufacturing.Sodium nitrate
is used in fertilizers and in the manufacture of gunpowder.Sodium nitrite is used to make dyes and acts
as a corrosion inhibitor.And of course,
there is sodium chloride, which we know as common table salt.

In biology it acts as a fluid regulator, and important
element in regulating blood pressure, blood volume, osmotic equilibrium (no net
movement of fluid across membranes), and acidity.In some plants it contributes to metabolism
and regulates the uptake of water.

Sodium is one of those elements for which care must be taken
in handling.Exposed to air it will
spontaneously react with water vapor to generate flammable hydrogen and sodium
hydroxide – that caustic soda again.In
its powered form it will explode spontaneously in the presence of oxygen.Moral…leave handling of sodium to the professionals.

So there it is, a common and very important element that can
be found in nature in any number of important and useful combinations.Discovered in Europe with a Swedish
connection.Reacts readily in the
presence of water (maybe even ice). Critical in life processes.It might sound a bit like a center who, as a
playmaker, reacts with a number of teammates to generate offense.An important ingredient in any number of
situations – 5-on-5, power play, penalty killing.One from and discovered in Sweden.

WE INTERRUPT OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED PROGRAMMING

The Washington Capitals ended the 2016-2017 as one of 12 franchises in the NHL never to win a Stanley Cup. Of that group, only the St. Louis Blues (48 seasons), Buffalo Sabres (45 seasons), and Vancouver Canucks (45 seasons) have gone longer never having won a Cup than the Capitals (41 seasons). Six teams came into the league after the Capitals entered the league in 1974-1975 and have won Stanley Cups: Colorado Rockies/New Jersey Devils (1976-1977), Edmonton Oilers (1979-1980), Quebec Nordiques/Colorado Avalanche (1979-1980), Hartford Whalers/Carolina Hurricanes (1979-1980), Tampa Bay Lightning (1992-1993), and the Anaheim Ducks (1993-1994).

The other stuff

Pictures, logos, and the occasional quotes used here are the intellectual property of other folks (unless otherwise noted) of considerably more productive imagination than the author of the original stuff read here, which is our very own.